


see it with the lights out

by starklystar



Series: leave the war at the doorstep [8]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, From Steve, Idiots in Love, Jealous Tony Stark, M/M, Married Life, Social Media, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, also we have, steve deprivation, with instagram edits because edits are fun to make
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-14
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:22:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26950600
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starklystar/pseuds/starklystar
Summary: Tony goes on a business trip, and he does not - not at all -  get jealous of Dodger hogging his husband's chest, a territory otherwise known as Tony's pillow.(or, Steve goes on an Instagram spree and Tony misses home)
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark
Series: leave the war at the doorstep [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1654537
Comments: 33
Kudos: 375
Collections: the stevetony social media(ish) fics





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> for the anon who asked for steve and tony with dodger. also, title taken from taylor swift's song: you can hear it in the silence // you can feel it on the way home // you can see it with the lights out (you're in love)
> 
> p.s. with minor changes from last night coz i'm now awake enough to spot (at leas some of) my errors :)

Tony scowls into the camera. "No."

In the hologram, Steve's grin turns into a laugh as Dodger's head nudges at his beard, their dog settling heavily on Steve's chest and rumpling his white tee up.

His tail wags harder when Tony's voice comes through, head swivelling with an air of cautious excitement.

"He misses you too," his husband has the gall to say.

"That dog is not sleeping in our bed," Tony huffs, pointing to himself for emphasis, "and your chest is _my_ pillow."

"Come over here and claim it, then."

He's tempted, he really is.

A week away from home on a world trip of Stark Industries Offices left him tired and aching for the softness of their bed, the steady tenderness of Steve's touch.

It's stupid to be jealous of their dog, childish and unmanly, and – ah, dammit, a man has needs, alright?

The hotel suite had felt too hollow and too quiet to stay in alone - God knows how much worse it would've been if Tony had chosen to stay in one of his London mansions - hence why he's still here in the conference room, whiling away the hours between meetings with a glimpse of home.

He has to remind himself that this is the final stop. One last meeting tonight, a facility tour in the morning, and then a jet back.

Or the Iron Man suit, if he really wanted to cut the flight time in half.

"When I get back, I'm keeping you for a whole week, Avengers alert be damned," he threatens.

Dodger barks, as if in protest, which makes Steve laugh harder. "I think our child disagrees."

Tony wants to kiss that laugh, but he refuses to be sidetracked from his true purpose for calling: the Instagram posts of Dodger taking over their bedroom _and_ his husband.

With his own bedroom and a plethora of bot dogs to play with, their rescue dog is more than spoiled. Yes, _fine_ , Tony will admit that he does an equal share of spoiling as his husband, but the entire internet seems to have gone crazy over by Captain America's Instagram suddenly blowing up with posts every morning.

It bears repeating that Tony isn't jealous of their dog, thank you very much. He had even been the one to take Steve to the shelter as a second anniversary surprise.

He also misses Dodger a lot.

Steve had ~~endearingly~~ infuriatingly been able to train their dog to jump on Tony if he forgot to take a drink for more than an hour, playing fetch together with DUM-E in between each hour.

And, most importantly, Tony knows that it's his account that has more posts about their long journey to and after marriage, preferring to have control over what the world sees than keep things so private for paparazzis to hunt.

Because some days, he felt so _full_ of awe and affection that Steve really was his, so much that he needed to shout it from the rooftops and tell the world, because _wow_.

In contrast, Steve’s account was most often filled with political posts that set fires beneath the asses of complacent Senators, and he had his reasons for wanting to keep his personal life private.

Tony respected those reasons, which was why it was jarring even to him that Steve had suddenly taken to posting about Dodger, but the number of times he's stared at Steve's only post of them, a picture taken three days after he had proposed to Tony –

Had that really been the only time Steve felt so full of affection for him?

"Stop it."

Tony swivels in his spinning chair, shaken. "What?"

Steve shoves Dodger away to presumably get a proper grip on his phone. "You're doing that frowny face that means you're thinking too much, honey," he says even as he pats their dog consolingly, "did the investors do something wrong?"

"No, I just - " _I'm just, okay, I'll admit it, jealous of our dog cause he's spending the day with you and I'm not?_ "I'm just tired," Tony finishes lamely.

The video feed shakes as Steve adjusts himself again. He must've seen through Tony's slip. "Why aren't you in your hotel?" All business, the need to protect surging. It was the Captain seeing a problem and mapping out solutions. "I thought you still had two hours before your next thing?"

His husband voluntarily memorising his jumbled schedule when JARVIS was perfectly capable of providing every detail had always been something that sent Tony into a bubbly mess, and even now, the welcome warmth spreads through him.

"I'm saving the environment," he feels himself smile, "less travelling, less gas."

"All your cars are clean energy, and you could walk for once, Mister Billionaire," Steve teases, relaxing slightly despite the concern still clear in his pinched face.

"JARVIS, define 'tired' for our dear Captain, would you?"

"The Oxford Dictionary definition or your personal definition, sir?"

A muffled laugh from Steve. Traitors, the both of them.

"I'll call you tonight, if that helps?" Steve offers. "Or I can try convince Pepper to let you off the hook."

"'Try' being the keyword," his mood growing less sour for every minute he spends talking with his husband. "I do want to meet the young minds working at my facilities, though."

Something softens in Steve at that. "Of course you do." A beat, then, "I love you."

"Love you too," Tony replies, almost an instinct.

It's the promise of a call later that carries Tony through the rest of the day, and when his alarm rings the next day, it's the maddening expectation of seeing Steve and Dodger again that gives him the strength to throw off the blankets – sue him for using more than one blanket, it was always colder without a supersoldier heater in bed with him.

The rest of the morning passes in a blur. He spends longer than planned in the labs, caught in a discussion of superstellar travel with Monica Rambeau, a name he remembers to give to Jane, but eventually he's escorted back to his car with Happy on the wheel, their bags packed in the trunk.

Except, Happy takes a left off Knightsbridge –

"Hap, aren't we going to the City Airport?"

"New instructions from the High Boss, Boss," Happy cheerily replies, or as cheery as he could be with his professional no-nonsense look that Tony hadn't managed to train out of him yet.

"Pep didn't tell me about any change." He rubs his ring anxiously, the metal a grounding touch.

"She said a very high-ranking UN representative is waiting in your office. She'll be very upset if you ghost him."

Tony groans, just in time for the car to slide smoothly into the SI Building's lobby. "Keep the car running," he doesn't bother putting his tie back on, leaving it draped over the seat, but he does reattach his cufflinks.

The gold stars on the small red-and-gold shields Steve had given him wink back, a reminder of the reward that laid beyond this one last hurdle.

When he steps out of the car, he knocks on the bulletproof window until Happy rolls it down.

"I'll be fifteen minutes at most, if I take longer, fake an emergency and get me out of the room."

Happy salutes him. "No problem, Boss."

Tony takes the lift, making it all the way to his floor before he realises he has no idea who's waiting, or more importantly, what exactly was so pressing that Pepper deemed it critical enough to prolong his Steve-deprivation.

"J, details on meeting agenda?" he asks his watch.

"You will be conversing with a certain Mr. Stark, member of the United Nations Superhuman Response Team."

He squints up at the nearest camera, rounding the corner to his office. "Did Peter mess with your speech patterns again?"

"Mister Parker has done nothing of the sort, sir," JARVIS sounds scandalised.

Tony rolls his eyes fondly. "Nevermind," he pushes the door open, "I'll fix you la – "

He blinks.

Walks out.

Walks back in.

Still there. Some sort of vivid hallucination then?

"Hey, darling," Steve stands, because apparently, somehow, by some miracle - _ah_ , Pepper, you sneaky, sneaky little minx - Tony's husband is in his London office, cleanly shaven and wearing that blue, very well-fitting jacket Tony loves to take off of him.

"Steve," Tony says, still holding onto the door just in case, "when - why - "

"This morning, because I missed you, and," by now Steve's steps have taken him right in front of Tony, his warm breaths puffing against him, "also because I wanted to do this."

He presses a kiss on Tony's lips.

Which, _oh._

Steve's hand curls around his neck, thumb brushing a path along his jaw, and okay, Tony's brain, mushy as ever when it gets near Steve, finally clicks.

His husband really _is_ here.

Only then does Tony finally surge forward, leaning up to drag Steve even closer, because he smells like home and tastes like it, too.

"I love you," Steve murmurs between kisses.

"I missed you," Tony breathes back.

When Steve pulls away, Tony doesn't let him get far, clinging close to him. "Did you leave our rascal alone?" he has enough sense to ask.

"Dodger's staying the night with Buck and Sam," Steve ducks his head, cheeks pinking, "I thought you'd find your flight back more bearable with extra company."

"You didn't have to," Tony chides, but he knows his smile says otherwise. "And are those," he peers at the large riot of colors on his desk, "are those _flowers_?"

"Thought they'd scent up your place real nice," Steve's smile tips up into a smirk, "I took care of all Avengers business stateside. You deserve a good vacation after a week of hard work."

"Is that so?" Tony kisses Steve's cheek.

Then his nose, and his lips again for good measure.

"And you've got several houses here that we haven't destroyed the _sanctity_ of yet," Steve adds with an air of utter seriousness that sends Tony cackling, feeling all the exhaustion of the past week sliding right off him.

"Take me home, then, soldier," Tony winds his arm around his husband's waist.

In three days, Dodger would be flown over to London with a disgruntled note from Bucky that their child had hogged Sam too much, and Steve would melt the entire internet with the video of Dodger barreling Tony to the ground.

In six days, they'd take their dog on a walk, visiting the spots Steve had been to way back when in the forties, writing new, brighter memories over his grief.

In ten days, the jet would take them back to New York, Tony's head on Steve's chest as the sun set beneath the clouds, Dodger tucked in next to them.

But that was later.

For now, he lets Steve hand him the bouquet of carnations and lilies, thanking him with yet another kiss.

And if he spends the rest of the next day smiling after a night of life reaffirming sex and a certain alert on his phone, well.

He loves his husband.

And it's nice to be loved back.


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> extra unused edits that i ended up posting on tumblr, adding them here too for your viewing pleasure :)

**Author's Note:**

> find me on [tumblr](https://starklysteve.tumblr.com) :)


End file.
